Ventilated seat

ABSTRACT

A ventilated vehicle seat includes a bag formed from impermeable materials enclosing a spacer material. The latter preferably includes upper and lower netting sheets and fibers extending between the netting sheets, the fibers being sufficiently resilient to prevent total collapse of the spacer material when the seat is occupied. An air mover forces air into or draws air from the bag is coupled to the air space between the air impermeable layers. Holes are provided in the top of the bag, and the sizes are preferably selected to equalize air flow over the seating surface, rather than having all the air flow through the openings nearest the fan. An optional, porous heating layer may be located above the bag. The ventilation and trim components are preferably sewn into the seat in a single operation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, IF ANY

[0001] None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field Of The Invention

[0003] The present invention relates generally to the art of vehicleseating and more particularly to ventilated seating wherein air may beforced upwardly from the seating surface or draw downwardly therethroughto enhance occupant comfort. More specifically, the present inventionrelates to a ventilated seating system which is easy to install into aseat in a single operation and which is easy to adapt to a wide varietyof seating designs.

[0004] 2. Description Of The Prior Art

[0005] Many different types of ventilated seats are known to the art.They typically are designed to enhance occupant comfort by passing airthrough the covering of the seat or horizontal through the seat itself.In warm weather the air flow moves in the vicinity of the seat contactedby the occupant's body and assists in cooling and reducing sweating. Incold weather, ventilated seats can help warm the occupant if heated airis forced through the seat or the seat covering. It is known therefore,that air flow in ventilated seats can be in either direction.

[0006] It is also known that the air used in ventilated seats can beambient air (i.e., air of the same temperature as the vehicle interior)or cooled or heated air. For example, a ventilated seat can be coupledto a vehicle's air conditioning system. In addition, known ventilatedseating can include flow control to increase or decrease total air flow,as well as direction, such as by having low, medium and high flowsettings.

[0007] Ventilated vehicle seating, while being known for some time, isnot widely used in the industry and is usually an expensive option orstandard equipment in luxury priced vehicles. One reason is cost ofmanufacture, and as noted in many of the patents provided with thisapplication, ventilated seating systems can be complex in design anddifficult to install. In many cases providing a ventilation featurebecomes a dominant consideration in overall seat design and may forcethe seat manufacturer to compromise comfort or styling details. In mostcases the ventilation components must be carefully located within theseat, and the duct work and air moving apparatus must be accounted forbefore the final layer of seat cushioning and trim is sewn to the othercomponents. Increased time in assembly equates to increased cost for themanufacturer, the OEM and the ultimate customer. A ventilated seatingsystem which works effectively and provides even air flow at theportions of the seat to be ventilated, and which is less costly tomanufacture than prior art ventilated seats, would represent asubstantial advance in this art.

FEATURES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] A primary feature of the present invention is to provide aventilated seating system which overcomes the above-noted disadvantagesof prior art ventilated seats.

[0009] Another feature of the present invention is to provide aventilated seating system which is relatively inexpensive and which canbe easily adapted to a variety of seat designs.

[0010] A different feature of the present invention is to provide aventilated seating system which produces a substantially uniform airflow in all of the areas of the seat where ventilation is desired.

[0011] Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide aventilated seating system which may include a heating layer to enhanceoccupant comfort during cold weather.

[0012] Another feature of the present invention is to provide aventilated seating system, the performance of which is not impaired byheavy occupants.

[0013] How these and other features of the invention are accomplished,individually or in various combinations, will be described in thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken inconjunction with the drawings. Generally, however, the features areprovided in a ventilated seating system which is located beneath thetrim (for example, perforated leather, cloth, etc.) and is installed atthe plant of the seat manufacturer. The ventilated seating systemincludes a bag having upper and lower sheets of non-permeable materialwhich prevent the passage of air except at locations determined by themanufacturer. Within the bag is a three dimensional, expanded spacermaterial, preferably one which includes upper and lower layers ofnetting and fibers located therebetween which are stiff and which extendbetween the upper and lower netting layers. Expanded plastics can alsobe used. The spacer material is sufficiently stiff to avoid blockage ofair flow when the seat is occupied, even by heavy occupants. Holes areprovided in the upper surface of the bag, and preferably the holes areprovided in a pattern matching the contact area of the occupant. Forexample, the bag for a seat cushion may include holes arranged in aU-shape, while a seat back might include a linear array of holesextending from the lower part of the seat to the upper part. An airmovement system (e.g., a fan or a duct coupled to the vehicle's airconditioning system) is coupled to the bag and hence to the air spacecreated by the spacer material to cause air movement laterally,longitudinally and vertically through the spacer material. If the airmovement system is in a suction mode, air is drawn through the holes,into the spacer material and out of the bag. In a pressurization-mode,air is forced into the bag and outwardly through the holes. The featuresof the present invention are also accomplished by altering the holesizes so that holes nearer the air flow entrance or exit are smaller,thereby equalizing the amount of air which passes through the holes. Anoptional heater pad may be employed as a layer between the seat trimlayer and the upper layer of the bag, or heating may be accomplished bycoupling the air mover to the vehicle forced air heating system. Forcooling, ambient air may be used, or the fan may be coupled to thevehicle's air conditioning system. Other ways in which the features ofthe present invention are accomplished will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art after they have read the following detaileddescription of the preferred and alternate embodiments, such other waysalso being deemed by the present inventors to be within the scope of thepresent invention if they fall within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In the following drawings like reference numerals are used toindicate like components.

[0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective, schematic view, with portions brokenaway, showing the main components of the ventilated seating systemaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0016]FIG. 2 is a perspective, schematic view of the ventilated seatingsystem of the present invention (with the upper trim and the optionalheating layer removed) showing the placement of two ventilated seatingbags on the cushion and seatback and illustrating the coupling thereofto a single fan; and

[0017]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the major components of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED AND ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Before beginning the detailed description of the preferred andalternate embodiments, several general comments can be made about theapplicability and the scope of the present invention.

[0019] First, the ventilated heating system of this invention can beused with a wide variety of seats, including the sport or bucket typeseat illustrated in FIG. 2 or in bench seating. For the latter, theventilation system may be occupant selective, i.e., may have separatecontrols for different portions of the same seat, or may have a singlebag system with one control.

[0020] Second, the ventilated heating system of this invention is shownwith an air-permeable optional heating pad over the upper layer of thebag and beneath the trim of the seat. Other ways of seat heating may beemployed, such as coupling the air space within the bag to the vehicle'sair heating system.

[0021] Third, it is preferable that the ventilated seating system of thepresent invention be sewn along with seat trim and cushioning componentsto enhance manufacturing efficiency. However, the bag may be assembledas a separate component and then placed in the seat and coupled to thefan as a separate unit. In this regard, it should be noted thatcushioning and other comfort layers which are not illustrated ordescribed in detail in the specification may be used. If cushion layersare placed over the top of the bag, they should be open pore to permitair to readily pass through them.

[0022] Fourth, the way in which the fan illustrated in the drawings iscoupled to sources of cooled, heated or ambient air is not shown indetail, but if it is desired to couple the fan to either the air coolingsystem of the vehicle or to the vehicl's air heating system,conventional duct work used in the vehicle manufacturing field may beemployed to convey temperature modified air from the source to the fan.

[0023] Fifth, with the exception of the spacer material, which islocated within the air-impermeable bag, the materials used forconstructing the trim, heater pad and the bag itself may be selectedfrom a wide range of materials. For the trim, air-permeable materialsshould be selected, such as cloth or perforated leather, but thethickness, color, etc., may be widely varied. Other spacer materials,such as expanded plastics, can be employed within the air-impermeablebag, so long as air flow is permitted to occur in any direction, i.e.,longitudinally, laterally, or vertically within the spacer materialitself. The preferred spacer material to be used herein is a series5900spacer material manufactured by Mueller Textile of Wiehl, Germany.This material, in addition to providing air distribution benefits, alsoprovides comfort benefits and includes an upper netting layer, a lowernetting layer and a plurality of stiffened resin fibers extendingbetween the netting layers. It may deform slightly when an occupant sitson the seat, but the material is sufficiently resilient that it will notbe crushed to the point the air flow is blocked, thereby impairing theeffectiveness of the seat ventilation. In the preferred embodiment, theupper layer of the bag is made of a dual layer material having a firstlower layer consisting of an air-impermeable resin film, over which isplaced a thin foam layer. A suitable material is Pladilon™ material,manufactured by Foamex International, Inc., of Southfield, Mich., U.S.A.

[0024] Proceeding now to a description of the preferred embodiment, FIG.1 shows in schematic form with portions cut away, a ventilated seatassembly 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. Assembly 10 includes a number of different layers which, invarious aspects of the invention can be varied and/or eliminated asmentioned above. The upper layer of seat assembly 10 is the perforatedtrim which preferably is cloth or perforated leather. Located beneaththe trim 12 is an air-permeable heater layer 14. Located beneath heaterlayer 14 is the top layer 16 of a bag 18. The bottom 20 of bag 18 isalso shown in this Figure, as is the joining of the top 16 and bottom 20to form an air-impermeable bag, except for a plurality of holes 22formed in the bag top 16. It can be noted in FIG. 1 that a hole can beformed in the heater pad 14, but if the heater pad material is airpermeable, it is not necessary to do so. It will also be noted in FIG. 1that the size of the holes 22 located near the lower portion of theFIGURE are larger than holes nearer the heater pad 14. More will be saidin this regard later.

[0025] The final component of assembly 10, as shown in FIG. 1, is aspacer material 24. As indicated earlier, the preferred spacer materialis the Mueller Textile material which includes an upper netting layer, alower netting layer and a plurality of fibers extending between them.This material has sufficient resiliency to prevent crushing of spacerlayer 24 when an occupant sits on or leans back against a ventilatedseat assembly 10.

[0026]FIG. 2 illustrates the use of two bags attached to a seat 30comprised of a seatback 32 and a seat cushion 34. One bag 10 residesalong the center area of the seatback 32, while another bag is locatedat the center portion of the cushion 34. The bags each extend throughthe bite line of the seat and the bag impermeable layers are suitablycoupled to a fan 35 located below the bite line.

[0027]FIG. 2 also illustrates in greater detail the aspect of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention which varies the size ofthe holes 22 as the distance from the air mover increases. In thisFigure, three openings are provided in the bag extending up the backrest32 with holes 37, 38 and 39 becoming gradually larger as the distancefrom fan 35 increases. A linear pattern is provided for these holes, asthat pattern has been found to be acceptable for the heating or coolingof an occupant. The bag located on the cushion 34 also includes apattern of openings 22, this time the openings being provided in aUshape to rest under the legs and seat of the occupant. The opening 42at the bottom of the “U ” is the smallest and sets of openings 43, 44,45, and 46 extend in a spaced relationship toward the front of the bagand grow gradually larger. This size and arrangement of the air holes,with the smaller holes being near the air mover, contributes to a moreuniform flow of air from the air mover, in this case fan 35. It shouldbe understood however, that the hole sizes may be the same withoutdeparture from the scope of this invention.

[0028] Proceeding next to FIG. 3, a more detailed, exploded view of asingle bag is shown. The same reference numerals will be used as wereused in connection with FIG. 1 for the various layers. Proceeding fromthe top, the perforated trim layer 12 is shown above the heater layer 14(and in this case, the electrical coupling through wires 15 is shown).The bag top 16 is located beneath the heater and the spacer material 24is then provided. Bottom 20 of the bag completes the assembly on a seatcushion 48.

[0029] In FIG. 3, each of the bag top 16, spacer 24 and bag bottom 20include elongate tails marked with the same reference number with aprime sign (e.g. 16′). In the illustrated embodiment, these extendthrough the seat bite line and an opening 49 is provided in the materialforming the bag top 16.In this Figure, a fan 50 acts as the air moverand is coupled to opening 49. Depending on the seat style and location,the tail may extend forwardly or to the side.

[0030] In use, the system illustrated in FIG. 3 is preferably sewn tothe seat at the same time trim 12 is attached. Components 12, 14, 16 and20 can be sewn together, the sewing of the latter two forming a portionof the seal extending about bag 18. Components 16′ and 20′ would be sewnalong their edges to maintain the air-impermeability in that area. Theattachment of the fan itself could be made in any suitable manner, suchas by using an adhesive or the like. It is also easy to understand byreference to FIG. 3 how other air moving systems could be employed forthe ventilated seat of the present invention. For example, a ductextending from the vehicle's air conditioning system could have its endcoupled in a sealed relationship to opening 49 to allow heated or cooledair to pass along the spacer to the holes (not shown in this Figure) andthe bag top 16. It can also be mentioned again here that the speed anddirection of air movement can be controlled by a separate controllercoupled to the air mover 50 or by using the fan speed and temperaturecontrols of the vehicle. If a fan 50 is used which is not directlycoupled to the vehicle's air conditioning system, it is preferred thatthe fan be reversible to operate in a pressurizing or suction mode andthat the fan be multi-speed, i.e., having at least low, medium and highsettings.

[0031] While the present invention has been described in connection withsingle preferred and then the alternate embodiment, the presentinvention is not to be limited thereby but is to be limited solely bythe scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A ventilated seat for a vehicle comprising: avehicle seat having a seat cushion component and a seat backrestcomponent, at least one of which is ventilated, each ventilatedcomponent having an air-permeable trim surface at the occupant contactareas of the seat; a bag formed of air-impermeable material locatedbeneath the trim surface of each ventilated component, the bag includinga top and a bottom, the top being nearer the trim surface, holes formedin the bag top to permit air flow therethrough; a spacer located withinthe bag permitting air to flow in any direction through the spacer, thespacer being sufficiently resilient to prevent blockage of air flow whenit is compressed by an occupant sitting in the seat; a bag opening; anair mover coupled to the bag opening; and the bag and trim surface beingsewn to the seat in a single operation.
 2. The ventilated seat of claim1, wherein the spacer comprises an upper netting layer adjacent the bagtop, a lower netting layer adjacent the bag bottom and a plurality ofplastic fibers extending between the upper netting layer and the lowernetting layer.
 3. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein the bag topincludes an inner resin air-impermeable film layer and an outer coveringof foam.
 4. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein the air mover is afan coupled to a bag opening.
 5. The ventilated seat of claim 1, whereinthe air mover is the vehicle's air conditioning system.
 6. Theventilated seat of claim 1 comprising an electrically powered heaterlayer between the bag top and the trim surface.
 7. The ventilated seatof claim 1, wherein the bag holes are arranged in a pattern generallycorresponding to the contact area an occupant would have with the seat.8. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein some bag holes are locatednearer the bag opening than other holes and the size of the holesincreases as the distance from the bag opening increases.
 9. Theventilated seat of claim 1, wherein both the seat cushion component andthe seat backrest component are ventilated.
 10. The ventilated seat ofclaim 9, wherein a single air mover is coupled to the two bags, the airmover being coupled to an extension of each bag.
 11. The ventilated seatof claim 9, wherein both bag tops are made from an inner film resinlayer and an outer covering of foam.
 12. The ventilated seat of claim 1,wherein the air mover is adapted to force air into the bag and outwardlythrough the holes and is a variable speed air mover.
 13. The ventilatedseat of claim 1, wherein the air mover is adapted to suction air fromthe bag and inwardly through the holes and is a variable speed airmover.
 14. The ventilated seat of claim 1, wherein the air mover isreversible and adapted to selectively draw air from or force air intothe bag.
 15. A ventilated seat assembly comprising a seat having agenerally horizontal cushion and a backrest, the seat also having anair-permeable decorative exterior trim cover, a bag sewn to at least oneof the cushion or backrest at the time the trim cover is attachedthereto, the bag including an air-impermeable top, an air-impermeablebottom and an opening coupled to an air mover, wherein a pattern ofholes is provided in each bag top, and a spacer is located within eachbag, the holes being arranged and sized to provide a generally uniformair movement therethrough.
 16. The seat assembly of claim 15, whereinthe spacer is adapted to maintain airflow throughout the bag when anoccupant sits on the seat.
 17. The seat assembly of claim 16, whereinthe spacer comprises an upper netting layer adjacent the bag top, alower netting layer adjacent the bag bottom and a plurality of plasticfibers extending between the upper netting layer and the lower nettinglayer.
 18. The seat assembly of claim 16, wherein the bag top includesan inner resin air-impermeable film layer and an outer covering of foam.19. The seat assembly of claim 17, wherein each air mover is a fan. 20.The seat assembly of claim 17, wherein the bag holes are arranged in apattern generally corresponding to the contact area an occupant wouldhave with the seat.
 21. The seat assembly of claim 17, wherein some bagholes are located nearer the bag opening than other holes and the holesize of the holes increases as the distance from the bag openingincreases.